BIF-Proceedings-Final-flip

32 2018 BIF Research Symposium and Convention • Proceeding Papers Introduction Sustainability is about balancing economic, social, and environmental concerns and positive attributes (i.e., the triple bottom line) and having a long-term focus (i.e., meeting the needs of the present without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs; UN, 1987). Much of the focus in recent years on beef and sustainability has been on environmental impacts, and in particular, beef’s higher environmental footprints (e.g., carbon, water, and land) relative to other foods when expressed per pound or per unit of crude protein (Poore and Nemecek, 2018). The relative differences in environmental footprints of foods has led to recommendations to consume more plant- based foods, or switch to pork, poultry, and fish over beef. Additionally, the environmental footprints of beef and other animal proteins has been a key focus of so-called “plant- based meats” and is a driving force behind the development of cell culture-derived muscle tissues that are yet to come to market. Ultimately, a prevailing narrative in food-informed and environmentally-concerned consumer, media, and investment circles has been “eat less meat for better human and planetary health” or “less meat, less heat” referring to curbing climate change by consuming fewer animal-derived foods, with a focus on beef. Context on meat and heat Broad consensus exists regarding the underlying climate science that increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, driven by human activity, are affecting the global climate system. Numerous gases, including water vapor, can trap heat in the earth’s atmosphere. This heat- trapping effect, or greenhouse effect, is responsible for keeping the global average temperature at a hospitable level for life on earth. Without the greenhouse effect the global average temperature would be 0°F compared to 59°F with the effect (Ma, 1998). However, recent changes in greenhouse gas concentrations (Table 1) have led to concerns that the global climate will change at a pace that will negatively affect human livelihoods, and the natural ecosystems and agroecosystems that we depend upon. Most of the observed warming due to increasing greenhouse gas concentrations has come from carbon dioxide (72% of global human-caused greenhouse gas emissions in 2010), with the majority of the concentration increase due to the combustion of fossil fuels and land use changes that have released biogenic carbon (i.e., carbon from soils, plant biomass) and reduced the capacity of atmospheric carbon dioxide to be sequestered via plant biomass (i.e., reduction in photosynthetic capacity of rainforests due to deforestation; IPCC, 2014). The second and third most important human-derived greenhouse gases are methane and nitrous oxide, representing 20% and 5% of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions globally in 2010, respectively. Both gases are primarily derived from microbial processes, with fossil fuel sources playing a more minor role. Agriculture is an important source for both methane and nitrous oxide, with ruminant animal agriculture being a considerable source of methane naturally-derived from ruminant digestive systems (IPCC, 2014). Discussions of greenhouse gas emissions from beef production often conflate global statistics for U.S.-specific estimates and total livestock emissions with emissions from beef production. The U.N. FAO’s latest estimate of global livestock emissions using life cycle assessment (i.e., feed production and deforestation included) was 7.1 Gt of carbon dioxide equivalents or 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The reference year for the report was 2005 and global human-caused emissions were assumed to be 49 Gt of carbon dioxide equivalents. The FAO’s estimate for global beef production was 2.9 Gt of carbon dioxide equivalents or 6% of global emissions. In the United States, direct emissions from beef cattle enteric fermentation and manure represent 0.132 Gt of carbon dioxide equivalents or 2% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions (0.27% of global emissions), with all direct emissions from livestock, including beef, representing 3.9% of U.S. emissions in 2016. However, for context, within the United States, agricultural emissions of greenhouse gases are completely offset by annual carbon sequestration from land use, land use change, and forestry. Thus, U.S. agriculture and forestry combined in 2016 represented a net sink of carbon emissions (-0.154 Gt of carbon dioxide equivalents; EPA, 2018). Positioning for the Future of Beef Production: Focus on Sustainability Sara Place, Ph.D., Senior Director, Sustainable Beef Production Research, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, a contractor with the Beef Checkoff